


Familiar Voices

by Fire_Bear



Series: AFTG Bingo 2020 [8]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee, First Meetings, Love Confessions, Love songs, M/M, Musicians, or some sort of confession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26516947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: Neil has a new, comfortable life with friends and a job atThe Foxhole, a coffee shop in the unassuming town of Palmetto. Life is quiet after everything, but music soon enters Neil's life in the form ofThe Monsters.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: AFTG Bingo 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817614
Comments: 36
Kudos: 200





	Familiar Voices

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a couple of hours before the end of the AFTG Bingo 2020, but obviously didn't get it done in time. So I finished it off, anyway.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't drink coffee and have no idea about it.
> 
> [Now in Russian!](https://ficbook.net/readfic/9900961)

“There’s a rockstar in town,” Matt told Neil, three months after Neil had finally settled into his new life. 

“Okay,” said Neil, placidly. He pulled out a paper cup. “What do you want today?”

“A mocha,” said Matt, distractedly. He was scrolling through his phone, even as he was bent almost double to lean against the counter. 

“Cake?” Neil asked, knowing that Matt liked to have something at this point in the day.

“Hm, yeah. I should be healthy so, like, the carrot cake?”

“ _Sure_ ,” said Neil, grinning cheekily at Matt when he looked up with a pout.

“Aren’t you interested?” Matt demanded, waving his phone at Neil.

“Nope.”

“Neil!” Matt whined. 

“You know I’m not a big music fan,” Neil pointed out, already starting to work the coffee machine. The clanging and hissing filled the air of _The Foxhole_ , the little coffee shop that Neil now worked in. 

He loved working there. Aside from the delicious smells that bloomed from the kitchen, the shop itself was cosy. There were two types of tables. Some were low for the comfy couches and armchairs. Others were attached to the thin pillars that were dotted around the place with tall stools available for the customers. The walls were painted white with little fox pawprints dotted across it. Napkins with foxes printed on them were available at the tables and they also had fox salt and pepper shakers placed on them. A giant fox looked down on Neil from above the machines, nosing at the menu that was done in orange writing. 

It was home and Neil treasured it.

At the moment, since it was an hour till closing, there were very little people in. Anyone that wasn’t Matt were taking their coffees to go, on their way to back shifts and night shifts. Only a few people were actually sitting in, most of which were students. There was also a couple who were on a blind date, blushing at each other and stuttering through flustered conversation. That meant that Matt could block the counter without annoying anyone.

“I can let you listen to some right now,” Matt said, quickly tapping away at his phone.

Neil glanced towards the students and the date. “I don’t think doing that here is a good idea, Matt,” he said, nodding to them. “Maybe another time.”

Instead of backing off like Neil had hoped, Matt pointed his phone at Neil. “Tonight. After work. Come by my place. We’ll get pizza and we’ll listen to The Monsters’ albums and watch movies. Right?”

Rolling his eyes at the coffee machine as he poured Matt’s mocha, Neil sighed. “Okay, fine. If you want me to listen to them that much, then yes.”

“Great!” Matt exclaimed. “I’ll go pick up Dan and see if the girls want to join in!”

Shaking his head with a fond smile, Neil set down the cup and the bag with the carrot cake. “Okay,” he said. “Now, get lost so I can shut up shop.”

“You’ve got an hour!” Matt protested, pouting. “How mean!”

Neil laughed and swatted at him with the cloth he used to wipe down the counter when he had nothing else to do. Grinning, Matt scooped up his prize, left more than enough money - a tip for Neil was included, as usual - and left with a wave over his shoulder. Shaking his head, he returned to his work which was mainly cleaning at this late stage. He also stocked up things like the cups and sugar. Half an hour later, he retied his orange apron and began to move around the room, wiping down every table and chair. The blind date decided to move on. Frantic students checked the time and cleared out, too.

He was utterly alone when there were only fifteen minutes left of the coffee shop’s opening hours and the door opened.

Having already wiped everywhere down, he was back behind the counter. He hid a sigh as he looked up, watching the lone man enter and look around. Compared to the cosy, sunny atmosphere of the coffee shop, the man was a black hole. Black combat boots; black skinny jeans with a rip at one thigh and a rip on the opposite knee, a chain hanging from his left hip; black tank top with jagged edges and a deep v-neck; black armbands; a black, dangly earring shaped like a tooth. His hair was the only light colour on him, the blond in it pale enough to reflect the light and make it golden. The man sauntered closer, gazing around as he moved, and his hazel eyes landed on Neil.

“Hi,” said Neil, forcing a customer service smile. “What can I get you?”

“A mocha,” the man said in a deep, rumbling voice. “Extra chocolate, extra cream.”

Neil resisted commenting on his choice. “Sure thing,” he said, pulling a to-go cup off the freshly stacked pile.

“No,” said the man, stopping Neil in his tracks. “To sit in.”

Turning back to him, Neil gave him a baffled look. “Sir. We’re open for less than fifteen minutes now. Wouldn’t it be best to-?”

“No,” the man repeated. He turned away from Neil, heading for one of the many, many tables that Neil had already wiped down. “I’ll sit in.” He stopped and turned back to Neil before he decided where to sit. “And bring me cake.”

Looking him over again, Neil realised what his mistake had been. Though this man had ragged looking clothes, they were clearly designed to be like that. The material of his clothes were good, likely to last, and probably expensive. Neil was interacting with some rich asshole who shouldn’t have been allowed to walk around on his own. Dan would kill him, though, if he didn’t at least try to be nice to him, so Neil smiled a little wider, trying to shake the fact that he probably looked like his father from his thoughts.

“Of course, sir.” His voice was tight. He was probably going to be told off, at the very least. “Which kind?” Gesturing at the display - something he would have normally been packing away at this very moment - Neil forcefully returned the to-go cup to its pile. Once this man left, he’d have to wash the dishes - again.

“Chocolate. With ice cream.”

“We don’t have ice cream. Sorry. Sir.” Neil was ridiculously pleased that he could actually refuse the man something and focussed on making his awful drink, hiding his amusement.

Behind him, the man sighed. “Whatever.”

Neil rolled his eyes but didn’t respond. Instead, he made the man’s drink, pulled out the cake, got everything ready on a tray with cutlery and napkins, and took the arrangement over to the man. Without looking at him, Neil unloaded the tray and straightened, holding the tray against his chest. It provided him with a shield against the man’s intense gaze, though Neil couldn’t understand why he would want to look at him. He wasn’t particularly interesting, even after he had bit the bullet and returned his eyes and hair to their original colours. 

“Anything else, sir?” he asked, for something to say.

“No.” The man sounded dismissive, but he didn’t take his gaze off Neil’s face. And hair. And eyes. Neil blinked at him for a moment, trying to work out what he wanted or what he was doing. Then he gave up.

“Do you want me to take your money now, or…?”

For a moment, the man stared at him. Then he dug his hands into his pockets, searching, searching, searching. He pulled out a phone. “Google Pay?”

“Uh…” Neil pointed at the sign by the till. The one that read: _Google and Apple Pay functions currently not working. We are working to get this fixed. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause._

The man stilled, staring at it. Then he looked down at his coffee and cake. Finally, he looked up at Neil. “I’ll need to make a call.”

“What do you mean?” Neil snapped, losing his patience. The man raised an eyebrow. “The shop’s about to close. I’m not going to wait for you.”

“If I call now,” the man explained, “my cousin will get here in roughly ten minutes.”

“Sure,” said Neil, sarcastically.

“I promise you that we won't be longer than half an hour,” the man said, his eyes narrowed. “Will you wait that long?”

Neil stared at him, considering. It wouldn't take long to clean up after the guy, he supposed. He could flip the sign at the right time, put away the cakes that were still in the display, mop the floor… “Fine,” he said. “But my friends will come looking for me if it takes too long, and I won’t be waiting.”

“Okay.”

When nothing else seemed forthcoming, Neil shrugged and turned on his heel, making his way back behind the counter. He busied himself for a while, ignoring the short phone call, and then began to pack up the cakes, carefully placing them in the fridge used for that purpose. The kitchen was, thankfully, already cleaned and ready for the next morning, so he returned to the front room. Since the man had no money, he had actually expected to find him gone, but he was still picking through his cake. Neil glanced at him as he crossed the room to the door and found the guy watching him. He frowned and flipped the sign, making sure to lock the door.

“Will you be paying by card?” Neil asked as he made his way back to the till. 

“Sure.”

Nodding in approval, Neil grabbed the edge of the counter and swung himself around. As usual, he banged into the other side and grimaced. The man lifted his head, his eyes darting over Neil as if he was searching for the problem. Neil waved him off and began pressing the various buttons to open the till. If they were paying by card, he could get a step ahead by cashing up and counting the actual dollar bills. He was aware, of course, that the man might be trying to rob them by staying behind when the shop was closed, so Neil kept an eye on him instead of taking it back to the tiny office and doing it there.

Just as he finished his counting and he’d checked it on the till totals, the door rattled. Neil glanced up and spotted three men through the glass, one of whom waved when he looked at them. He slid his gaze to the penniless man who nodded once in confirmation. Sighing, Neil tucked the money out of reach and made his way over to let them in. All three of them hurriedly darted inside and Neil locked the door behind them.

“Hey!” said a tall, dark-skinned man. He was the only one of them wearing any colour, in the form of small rainbow pins and a rainbow lanyard and a collection of coloured hair clasps that formed a rainbow on one side of his head. For some reason, he was grinning at Neil, and Neil chose to acknowledge that by turning on his heel and making his way back to the counter.

“Card,” he said, punching the order into the till again and pressing the button.

“Ah. Yeah,” said the man, patting at his pockets. Neil narrowed his eyes until Rainbow Guy pulled out his wallet. Then he took in the other two.

Both of them wore black, but the most striking of the two was the shorter one who looked the same as the first guy - Black Hole Guy, as Neil had dubbed him. The twin wore a hoodie with some sort of logo. It looked like some sort of monster, with stuff dripping off it, all of it white to stand out on the dark material. Underneath it was a single word that didn’t help matters. **Monsters** was written in dripping red letters. He scowled more than Black Hole Guy, so Neil decided he could be called Mini Hulk so as not to confuse himself.

The last guy was also unfairly tall with black curls and sharp, green eyes. A tattoo of some sort of chess piece - the black queen? - was under his left eye. Neil wondered what had possessed him to even consider getting a tattoo there. He wore a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off impressive forearm muscles. One side of it was tucked into his tight jeans while the other hung loose, making it look as though he had just gotten home from a rough day at the office. Which, Neil thought, was a strange look for someone to have while hanging out with the other men.

 _So, Black Hole Guy, Mini Hulk, Rainbow Surprise and Office Worker._ Neil had to look away and check on the money to shake those thoughts away, unsure why his thoughts had taken such a ridiculous turn. He decided to blame Allison whose habit of naming annoying and random customers with silly titles must have been rubbing off on him. Seeing that the money was exactly where he had left it, he looked up to find that Black Hole Guy had drifted over, leaving his things on the table, Neil noted.

“There!” declared Rainbow Surprise, finally tugging out a card. Neil only gestured at the machine, pulling out the pen in case he needed to sign for it. “Man, we usually just use our phones or get our manager to pay for it.”

 _Manager?_ Neil quashed his curiosity. Time was ticking on and he’d hopefully never see these people again. So, he shrugged a shoulder and gestured at the machine again. 

“Wow,” said Mini Hulk. “Great customer service.”

Neil’s hackles rose. “Maybe if you were actually here during opening hours and not when we’re closed and I actually have somewhere to be, I’d simper and fawn over you. But I still have to clean up after you, so I’m not in the mood. Pay and get out.”

Rainbow Surprise’s jaw dropped. Beside him, Office Worker looked similarly shocked. “You can’t say that,” he said, sounding every bit as haughty as he looked.

“Boo hoo,” said Neil, and pushed the machine towards Rainbow Surprise who still didn’t move to pay.

“Do you have any idea who we are?” Office Worker demanded.

“No. And I don’t care, either.” Neil turned his attention back to Rainbow Surprise. “Do you need help with that? Or can you actually work something that us peons in the retail sector use every day?”

“Wow,” breathed Rainbow Surprise. He waved a hand at Black Hole Guy. “Wow, that’s- Andrew, he-”

“Nicky,” said Black Hole Guy. Or Andrew, Neil supposed. He gave Rainbow Surprise - Nicky - a flat look. “Let’s go.”

“Ah. Right, yeah.” Nicky fumbled with the card for a moment before swiping it and signing the receipt. Neil printed out the customer receipt and shoved it at him before rounding the counter again. He practically herded them out as Nicky struggled to get his card into his obviously new, fancy wallet. “Well, hey, this was nice,” he said, conversationally. He grinned at Neil who stared blankly back. “We should totally come back here again.”

“Try coming in when we’re actually open next time,” Neil suggested, holding the door open for them.

“Oh, I will,” said Nicky with a rather obvious wink. Neil stared and only stared harder when Andrew pushed him out of the door. Mini Hulk glared at Neil as he passed and Office Worker… For some reason, Office Worker was giving him a rather hurt look. Neil returned it with a perplexed one of his own before he shut the door in his face, locked the door and returned to his work.

Hopefully, he’d never see them again.

* * *

_Coffee in a cup with added sugar to sweeten this bitter pain,  
_ _But even that cannot soothe it away as we go through it all again.  
_ _Flames catch the eye and draw me in, closer to agony once more,  
_ _The wounds alight, and drawing me down, falling, falling to the floor._

* * *

“So, last night,” said Dan as her hands flew across the machines behind Neil. 

Rolling his eyes, Neil placed a plate on a tray, the slice of carrot cake wobbling. “What about it?”

“I was just wondering which of the bands you liked best, of the ones we listened to.” Dan placed a cup beside the plate, piled high with swirled cream. “I’ve got an old CD player that I’ve been wondering what to do with and I’ve got some of their CDs, if you wanted them for your place.”

Neil blinked and paused in the act of lifting the tray. “Oh. You- You don’t have to,” he said, hurriedly. “I’m fine without it.”

Dan chuckled. “It’s totally fine, Neil. You’re getting it one way or another. If not now, then for Christmas or your birthday.” She opened her mouth to say something else when the door opened again and another group of people entered for the lunch rush. “Urgh,” Dan said, moving over to the till. “We’ll talk about it in a minute.”

A minute turned into five turned into an hour when the steady stream of customers subsided to a trickle. They were wiping down the counter and removing the empty plates from the cake display when Dan decided to ask Neil once again what his favourite band was. Neil thought about it before he gave his answer. “I liked that one… The one with the song about running. There was a monster in it, I think.” That song had really struck something within Neil and he’d wanted to play it over and over. It was a rock song, sung with a rough voice and loud instruments. Despite that, the voice singing had soothed Neil’s soul while also sounding awfully familiar.

“Oh, The Monsters!” said Dan, looking surprised. “Those guys… Their songs are great but their personalities are…”

“Monstrous?” Neil suggested.

Dan laughed at that. “Yeah. Exactly. I hear they’re not exactly nice to each other or their fans.”

“Huh.” Neil stopped what he was doing and thought for a moment. “Maybe I don’t want them, then. I’d rather support someone better.”

“Ooh, let me show you someone like them but who’s much nicer. I’ve met them before.”

“Show me?”

Grinning, Dan stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “I’ll show you YouTube videos.”

Neil left her to tap away at her phone while he went to gather up dishes and rubbish left by their customers. He wiped down the tables before he returned, placing all the cups and plates and glasses into the sink. Before he could turn the tap and before Dan could pull up the video she wanted, the door opened. Though Neil heard it, he ignored it and grabbed the sponge and the washing-up liquid. They had a dishwasher but Neil was used to using a sink since he couldn’t afford one of them. He always did this before Dan grabbed them and took them to the kitchen. 

This time, though, Dan didn’t appear. In fact, all of the chatter died down until the only noises were his clattering, someone’s footsteps and the coffee machines gurgling. Frowning, Neil turned to see what was going on. He sighed when he saw Black Hole Guy - or Andrew, anyway - standing on the other side of the counter. This time he was wearing a long-sleeved black top and entirely black Converses. Apart from that, he looked the same as before, even down to his attitude and posture. Everyone in the shop seemed to be staring at him and it made Neil a little uncomfortable. Still, he was a customer and Neil stepped up to him, making sure to smile.

“Hello,” he said, instead of his usual ‘hi’. “What can I get for you?”

Andrew stared at him for a moment. Then he looked at Dan who was also staring at Andrew for some reason. When he turned back to Neil, he raised an eyebrow. “A macchiato. Extra caramel, extra syrup, extra cream.”

“To sit in or takeaway?” Neil asked, having learnt his lesson from the night before.

“Sit in.”

“Huh,” said Neil, entirely without meaning to. He gestured at the display. “Cake as well?”

After he flicked his eyes to take in the cakes, Andrew said, “The strawberry one. Two slices.”

Neil punched that all into the till before he gave Andrew a considering look. “Do you want something more substantial or are you trying for diabetes here?”

Dan made some sort of noise and Neil grimaced, aware that he probably should have been nicer. Andrew didn’t seem overly concerned, though, so Neil ignored her. His attention was caught by Andrew’s eyes that darted over Neil for some reason before meeting Neil’s gaze. “Cake,” was all Andrew said with a shrug.

Shrugging, Neil hit the total button and held out his hand. “Pay.”

This time, Andrew had a wallet on him and he pulled out his card. He swiped it, signed the receipt, tucked the card away and pulled out a wad of cash. Perplexed, Neil watched him peel off a couple of bills and, without saying anything, he held it out. For a moment, neither of them moved. There was dead silence. Not even the machines were making noises.

“You… You _do_ realise that you already paid?” Neil said. Dan made another noise, this one more strangled.

“Tip,” Andrew said. “For you. For last night.”

Neil blinked at him and peered down at the bills. If they were both the same, then he was currently trying to give Neil two fifty dollar notes. Neil stared at them. Then he looked up at the indifferent expression on Andrew’s face. Nobody seemed to want to say anything, so Neil spoke up. “You really are a spoiled rich kid, huh?”

There was a stifled cry of outrage from across the shop. Dan made another noise and finally seemed to come back to herself. “Neil!” she hissed.

“What?” Neil asked.

“Just take the money,” Andrew said, waving it in Neil’s face.

“I don’t want all of that,” Neil protested, though he wasn’t sure why. He could use that money for _something_. Maybe a dishwasher.

Andrew sighed and reached out. With deft fingers, he tucked it into the pocket of Neil’s apron before he could react. Strangely, he barely touched Neil, tugging the material to pull the pocket open in order to manage it. As soon as the money had been dropped in, he stepped back and out of reach. He pointed at Neil - a warning to keep the money - and wandered over to a table. For some reason, a group of girls squealed as he sat next to them, giggling and watching him until Andrew glared and they hunched in on themselves, huddling away from him to whisper to each other.

Neil turned to Dan who was staring at him in horror. “What were you doing?!” she quietly exclaimed.

“What?” said Neil again, growing more confused.

“You were being less friendly than usual.”

“Well, he was here last night and he’s an asshole.”

“That’s- He’s the lead singer of The Monsters!”

Neil paused to consider that. “Then you probably shouldn’t give me their CD, then,” he said. “He really is an asshole.”

“Urgh, Neil.” Dan shuffled away, busying herself by making Andrew’s order while Neil pulled out his cakes. 

Once they had everything set on the tray, both of them paused. Neil didn’t exactly want to take it over - the less time spent talking to Andrew, the better - but Dan hesitated, which Neil had never seen her do before. He looked at her and noted how she kept glancing at Andrew before eyeing the notepads they kept for taking orders when people wanted more than one meal from the kitchen. Neil grimaced and glanced around. The entire coffee shop was watching Andrew, some of them even secretly taking pictures on their phones. Others were clearly talking about him. Then he looked at Andrew who made Neil think of danger and suffering; if Andrew was anything like Neil, he wouldn’t want to be interrupted on his break to sign things or have people talking to him.

“I’ll take it over,” Neil said, grabbing the tray before Dan could react.

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking both disappointed and guilty.

“I can handle assholes,” Neil told her, and made his way over. Once he was there - ignoring the glares he received, probably because of his previous comments - he placed everything onto the table in front of Andrew. The man in question slowly looked up from his phone. Neil ignored him until he had an empty tray which he hugged to his chest. “Anything else?” he asked, as pleasantly as he could.

“She told you who I was,” said Andrew. He didn’t phrase it as a question.

Neil shrugged. “Yeah.” He paused, considering whether he should carry on the conversation. When he came to a decision, he said, “I listened to one of your songs just last night, actually. The one about running. I liked it, I suppose. It made me feel…” Neil trailed off. He wasn’t sure how to explain how he’d felt, how it had spoken to him.

Andrew straightened, giving Neil another considering look. “You mean Chased?” Neil shrugged in answer and Andrew rolled his eyes. “You mean Chased,” he told Neil. “That’s not about running.”

Blinking, Neil ran over the words he could recall in his head. To _him_ , it had spoken of running. Maybe that was just who he was. “What _is_ it about?” 

“Listen,” said Andrew. Before Neil could say anything else, Andrew dismissed him with a wave of his hand. 

“This attitude doesn’t really make me want to listen to anything else,” Neil pointed out before he left Andrew alone. He could feel Andrew’s eyes on him all the way back to the counter.

Behind the barrier, Dan shook her head at him. “Why do you always antagonise difficult people?”

“They antagonise me first by being difficult,” Neil replied. 

“Yeah, yeah. Go for your break. I can hold the fort here.”

Neil sighed with relief. “Aye, aye, captain,” he said, giving her a salute. He dodged Dan’s retaliatory smack with the cleaning cloth and wandered into the back, laughing all the while.

* * *

_When I wake, I think of you, see you as clearly as my dream._ _  
_ _Every single mocha I ask for, I get double the whipped cream._ _  
_ _Your icy eyes, once filled with darkness, the kind that I delight in_ _  
_ _Are now suffused with a warmth. Is it because of my sighting?_

* * *

When his break was over, Neil reemerged to find that the coffee shop was busier than expected. Dan was flitting between the till and the machines, frantically pouring orders. The tables were all full, with people squeezing in beside each other. Only Andrew’s had space, and that was probably by dint of his huge personal bubble. Still, it seemed that was bending as everyone in the place was busy staring and gossiping and doing things on their phones. Neil grimaced; it was definitely something he would hate and he wasn’t sure how Andrew put up with it.

He couldn’t dwell on Andrew and the public’s reaction to him for long. Dan was quickly becoming overwhelmed and he dashed forward to grab a cup that was close to falling. Once he’d righted it and nothing had spilled, Dan breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God,” she said to Neil. “Someone’s posted that Andrew’s here and now everyone’s coming in.”

“You should take a break. I can handle this.”

“I can't leave you alone,” Dan insisted weakly, though she sounded exhausted. 

“Go,” Neil ordered. "I'll be fine. And Andrew will leave eventually. Go." He waved his hands at her, shooing her into the back room.

Once she was safely away, he handed over the cup to a man in a fancy suit, the top buttons undone and no tie in sight. It made Neil think of the characters in movies that thought they were above everything, the pompous assholes who looked down on everyone. The people he felt like he should punch when he was forced to watch them. Of course, the man proved Neil right by saying, “You should have more tables outside. It makes much more business sense.”

Neil looked out the window where the few tables they could fit on the street were already full. “Right,” he said, hoping that he would take it as the dismissal it was.

Instead the man leaned over the counter, ignoring the people in the queue behind him. “I mean, there's nowhere for me to sit now. Maybe you could move someone along for me?”

“No,” Neil said, making sure to keep his voice calm and pleasant. “Everyone here arrived before you so you'll just have to wait or take your coffee to go.”

“Don't be like that,” said the man, reaching out. Neil stepped away from him with a frown, barely restraining himself from making a disgusted look instead. The man’s sly expression flickered but he quickly slapped it back on. “I can make it worth your while-”

He was cut off when a hand grabbed his wrist. The muttering and chatter grew louder as Andrew - who had appeared at the counter without Neil noticing - pulled the man away from Neil. “Leave,” he said.

The man's eyes widened. “But-”

“Now,” Andrew ordered. 

Deflating, the man scurried off, leaving behind his coffee. Neil sighed and moved it out of the way. “You didn’t need to do that,” he told Andrew. 

“He was in the way.”

“Yeah.”

Neil paused, waiting for Andrew to go back to his table or to leave entirely. Instead, Andrew stepped towards the cash register and waited, though what he was waiting for, Neil couldn’t work out. They stared at each other for a while, watching for signs of _something_. Finally, Andrew spoke, the entire shop seeming to hang onto his every word. “Aren’t you going to serve me?”

“Oh,” said Neil, glancing at the empty glass and plates at Andrew’s table. “Sure. What do you want?”

“Same again. To go.”

“Only two cakes?” Neil asked as he punched it in. 

“Yes.”

“Who’s offended you enough that they’re not getting one? The chatty one?”

“They’re for me.” 

Neil stopped in the act of turning to the coffee machine. He blinked at Andrew. “You’re going to eat _more_ cake?”

“Yes.”

“How can you stand how sweet they are?” Neil asked, perplexed.

“Don’t. You sound like Kevin.”

“Annoying?”

“Boring,” answered Andrew, waving him away.

The atmosphere in the shop was strained. Everyone was leaning towards them, watching, trying to listen. Neil ignored it the best he could, but it was starting to get under his skin. It was worse when he turned to get the cakes and noticed several people with empty plates and glasses. He told himself to remain calm, despite how it tested his patience. 

Thankfully, it didn’t take him long to fix everything or for Andrew to pay once more. Neil handed over his drink and a bag with the cake slices, wrapped in cellophane and cardboard to keep them safe. When Andrew took them, his fingers brushed over Neil’s and he gave him an obvious once over. There was no reason for Andrew to do that; he was wearing much the same as the night before. So he blinked at Andrew instead of responding in kind and Andrew’s eyes narrowed.

“Have a nice day,” said Neil, rather pointedly.

Andrew huffed a breath. “Goodbye,” he said, turned on his heel and left. Neil shook his head to clear it of the musician and turned his attention on his less enthusiastic customers. As he worked, he watched the tables empty as the spectators disappeared to follow Andrew and Neil felt irritated on Andrew’s behalf. Surprised at that, he tamped it down and took the money from his better behaved customer.

* * *

_Chorus: Make a deal with me, my pipedream,_ _  
_ _Come with me for coffee and cake._ _  
_ _By only you, I want everything to be seen._ _  
_ _Will you come see what we can make?_ _  
_ _Make a deal, though there is nothing that I want,_ _  
_ _Give me a truth for one of mine, unless you can’t._

* * *

“I _cannot_ believe that someone famous was here and you didn’t call me,” Allison exclaimed, face twisted in mock outrage. She leaned further over the counter. “Renee! Why didn’t you tell me when you heard about this?!”

Renee’s sweet smile did nothing to dampen Allison’s excitement, though she did step closer to the counter so that Neil could back away from her. He leaned against the worktop instead and watched the two of them lean into each other. “I’m sorry,” Renee said. “I thought you would have already met him. Didn’t you say The Monsters were your favourite ba-?”

“Hush!” said Allison quickly, as if it was something to be embarrassed about. Neil thought that was silly. If she liked their songs, she should enjoy them. “Anyway! This isn’t about me. This is about you two not telling me that you’d met Andrew Minyard!”

“His surname is Minyard?” asked Neil, knowing that it would rile Allison up. He tried to keep the smirk off his face as her eyes widened and she puffed up. If the feathers on her coat were real, Neil thought they would fluff up, too.

“Oh, my God. Why haven’t we educated him on The Monsters?” Allison demanded. She looked to Renee for support, but Renee had begun to drift away. Neil watched her and realised after a moment that, though she was giving Allison an amused smile, she was avoiding her gaze. Allison also noticed. “What?” she demanded.

“I… Well, Andrew is an old friend of mine,” Renee told them, turning to the coffee machine so that she could wipe it down. “That was probably why he came here that first night.”

“Renee Joyce Ann Walker!” Allison exclaimed in a tone of voice quite like the mothers that Neil had seen on TV.

“I don’t have any middle names, Allison,” Renee pointed out, turning to actually look at her.

“Why have you never said anything?!” Allison demanded. “I talk about them all the- I’ve talked about them before and you never mentioned a thing.”

Shrugging a shoulder, Renee laid down the cloth she didn’t actually need. The day had been slow; some sort of event was taking all of their customers across town. “I haven’t seen him since he left on his first tour. We’ve had rather hectic lives.”

“But you keep in contact?” Neil asked.

“Yes. He never mentioned coming here.”

“Renee-!” Allison started.

“I didn’t say anything because Andrew likes his privacy,” Renee explained.

Allison snorted. “Right. _Sure_. Because becoming a famous rockstar is going to guarantee you privacy.”

“I meant about his private life,” Renee said, giving Allison a slightly disapproving look.

“And why didn’t _you_ mention it?” Allison turned on Neil, pointing one of her manicured nails at him. He tried not to think of another woman with perfect nails and a knife… 

“I didn’t know it was him,” Neil told her, shaking the memory from his mind. “And I’ve only listened to one song. I don’t care about them enough to mention it.”

That was a lie, however. After he had gotten home, Neil had used his new, shiny, confusing laptop to find the song Andrew had named. _Chased_ , on second listen, was not about running from the monsters in your life. It was about standing your ground and fighting back, hurting them before they could hurt you. From there, he had listened to their other songs. Each one was different, a different voice singing about monsters - but also about something personal. Strangely, certain songs spoke to Neil more than the others and he looked at some fan sites to find that most of the ones that he liked were written by Andrew. The others were a collaborative effort between Andrew and one of the other band members. 

He also discovered some disturbing fan art and fan fiction and quickly cleared his history and closed his browser.

Still, Neil didn’t really care much about them. It was their music that mattered, not the people themselves. To Neil, it felt like they were calling to those like him, letting him know that he was not alone, that there were others like him who would understand. Somehow, it settled something within him and let him relax a little more. 

“Urgh!” said Allison. “You two are the worst!”

At that point, the door opened and Allison pushed herself off the counter to move out of the way, still grumbling. Renee drifted over to the machines and Neil pushed himself off his perch and stepped up to the cash register, smiling his customer service smile as he watched the man approach. He was tall and serious, with black hair that had been messily swept back so that strands fell into his face, making him look more strikingly handsome. His clothes were smart and stylish but not too stuffy, with a long coat over the top; Neil had the feeling that this man worked in a high position in an office. When he reached the counter, his grey eyes swept over everything before landing back on Neil, his gaze sticking.

“What can I get for you?” Neil asked, as pleasantly as he could with his skin crawling from the attention.

“I’d like to talk to the manager, please,” said the man. He had an accent that instantly reminded Neil of France.

“I’m afraid the manager’s not in today,” Neil replied. “Is there something I could look into instead?”

“No- Well…” For a moment, the man looked between Neil and Renee. Then, he pulled his wallet from his pocket and extracted a card that he handed over to Neil. “My name is Jean Moreau,” he told them. “I’m the manager of The Monsters. I’m sure you’ve heard of them.”

Neil frowned, annoyed at the man for making assumptions. “They’re not _that_ famous,” he retorted.

Jean Moreau frowned for a brief moment. “Well, they really enjoyed their visit the other day-?”

“What, to pay for Andrew’s coffee?” Neil asked, perplexed.

Behind him, Renee made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a cough. Allison, however, paid no mind to subtlety. “ _Neil_!” she hissed.

Renee decided to intervene and stepped closer. “If they wish to leave a review, we actually have a website, admined by the assistant manager.”

“No, that’s not why I’m here,” said Jean, his eyes lingering on Renee’s face. Neil was relieved that he seemed to have forgotten him. “We were hoping that we could book the café in an hour’s time for lunch.”

“What?” said Neil, incredulous. That would be right in the middle of their lunch rush, with no prior warning for customers. They would lose a lot of trade. Besides, this seemed really entitled and Neil was not impressed. For some reason, he had thought that Andrew was different from every other celebrity he had been forced to learn about. If he was throwing his wealth and fame around, then Neil didn’t want him anywhere near the _Foxhole_.

“That’s a bit short notice,” Renee pointed out, calm as always. Still, Neil could hear the note of disapproval in her voice. “We don’t bother either of our managers on their days off so they can’t approve this.”

“Can’t you do this, just this once?” Jean implored her, seemingly forgetting about Neil. “You would really save me.”

“It would be in the middle of a really busy part of the day for us,” Renee pointed out, though Neil - and Allison, if the sigh was any indication - could see her wavering. She was always happy to help those who needed it, and if Jean said the right thing…

“Andrew is really desperate to come back,” Jean said. “He said he was really inspired. They have deadlines for new singles and albums and a tour. The Monsters need new material and I swore to figure out a way to bring them what they need.”

Neil had had enough of this. “Hey,” he snapped, glowering at Jean. “Leave her alone. We can’t do anything, and we wouldn’t, even if we could.”

“I could make it worth your whi-”

“No. Nothing you offer will be worth it.” Neil leaned towards Jean, hands flat on the counter to keep from punching him. “This is our workplace, our home, and you can’t just magically get your way because a ‘rockstar’” - Neil scoffed - “says so. Either use our place like everyone else or get lost. We’re not a club or wherever these people play. We don’t care. So.” Neil straightened. “Would you like coffees and cake to go or not?”

Jean stared at him for a moment. He seemed rather shocked, but it quickly disappeared with a smirk. However, he didn’t say anything other than listing an order. Somehow, he seemed pleased, but that only worried Neil. What was he planning? Was Neil in trouble? He wasn’t sure he could afford going to court…

Strangely, Jean said nothing more before he left with his coffees and a bag full of cakes. There was a heavy silence for a few seconds. “Well,” said Allison. “That went well.”

“We can’t close the shop just for them,” Neil protested.

“Oh, no, sweetheart,” said Allison, waving her hand. “You were entirely in the right. I just forget that you can eviscerate someone with a few sentences.”

Neil rolled his eyes as he stacked up some empty plates from the display. “Hopefully,” he said to Renee, “that’ll be the end of it.”

* * *

_Smoke slithers through the air, catching your attention,_ _  
_ _But that coffee and fall brings back all of my tension._ _  
_ _Those blue eyes pierce me so completely, and I must send_ _  
_ _You back to make a latte, though my heart, it rends._ _  
_ _(Chorus.)_

* * *

Neil had never been lucky and he wondered why he had thought this time would be different.

A few days after the Jean Moreau incident, Neil walked into the _Foxhole_ , running a little late. He’d been on his lunch break, but had had things to sort out at the bank and there had been a long queue. Of course, when he walked through the door into a café with full tables and no queue, it was to find Renee leaning on the unit, her back to the coffee machines, chatting to Andrew. The rockstar was behind the counter, his arms folded as he spoke to her, face as blank as usual.

Suppressing a sigh, Neil made his way by them, determined not to get riled up by Andrew’s mere presence. Renee noticed him and gave him a smile which he responded to with a tight nod. The interaction made Andrew turn his head, staring at Neil. He gazed back - a challenge for Andrew to say or do something. But Andrew didn’t visibly react as Neil passed by the counter and slipped into the back to get ready.

What was Andrew doing here? Why had Renee let him behind the counter? If anyone saw, there would be a repeat of the day when people had flocked to the café to gawk at him. Was that why the tables were filled? They weren’t usually that busy on a Wednesday. And why did Andrew keep coming back? Neil was sure there were a million different coffee places to get something sickly sweet in town. Not to mention the tour that _The Monsters_ were supposedly doing - Matt had been talking about it to Dan only the day before. Didn’t they have to move on now? Or had Neil missed something about it being cancelled?

Shaking his head, Neil tugged on the apron strings and shifted it into place. Ready to work again, he stepped outside and slipped behind the counter. As he did, he overheard some of Andrew and Renee’s conversation.

“-he won’t talk to me,” Andrew was saying. “I’ll get some peace.”

Renee smiled sweetly in that way that meant that she didn’t really believe you. “Of course,” she said.

“Fuck you,” Andrew said, though it wasn’t spiteful. Instead, it sounded a mix of exasperated and irritated, with a dash of fondness.

Confused, Neil decided to ignore it and spoke up. “What needs doing, Renee?”

Andrew tensed and quickly turned to keep Neil in his eyeline. Which… was interesting. Neil stared at him for a moment before he turned back to Renee. “Just bringing through more cakes,” Renee told him.

“Cake?” said Andrew, straightening a little.

“For the display,” Neil said, pointedly. 

A brief frown crossed Andrew’s features. “Whatever,” he said once he was back to his blank expression.

“I can do it, Neil,” Renee piped up. “You can keep Andrew company instead.”

“What? Why?” asked Neil, equal parts annoyed and confounded. Didn’t Renee want to talk to Andrew? Wasn’t that the reason he was here? Or had Neil been right to wonder about Andrew’s motivations to pop in every few days?

“Because I should have done it by now and I’ve neglected my job,” Renee explained.

“But you were on your own,” Neil pointed out. “And I was late.”

“It’s not your fault, Neil. Don’t worry, I can do it,” said Renee, already heading towards the door. 

Neil was left with an apparently bored Andrew. He glanced around, looking for something to do but, as usual, Renee was doing a stellar job and had already cleaned everything she could. After a moment, he chanced another look at Andrew who was merely watching him. Neil frowned back, searching for something to say.

“Do you want anything?” he eventually asked.

“No,” Andrew answered, almost as if it was an automatic response to the question.

“What about one of those coffees you always get?” Neil suggested, desperate for something to do so he didn’t have to entertain Andrew until Renee reappeared.

“A hot chocolate.”

“Let me guess,” said Neil, already reaching for the appropriate mug. “Extra cream and extra marshmallows?” Andrew only stared at him, looking rather annoyed for some reason.

Ignoring him, Neil set about making the drink, adding a couple more scoops of the powder with a little extra heated milk. Then he piled the cream as high as he could get it before dropping marshmallows on top. When he ran out of room, he dropped some on the saucer. Without much fanfare, he placed the mug next to Andrew and stepped back to start cleaning up, wondering why Renee was taking so long.

“Aren’t you going to make me pay?” Andrew asked in a disinterested drawl.

“Nope. It’s on the house.”

“I can pay,” Andrew insisted. “I don’t need charity.”

Neil looked over at him, blinking at the fact that Andrew had his wallet in one hand and a wad of cash - way too much - in his other. “It’s not charity. But you’ve already spent more than enough here, and we can afford to let you have this one for free. Besides, I can just stick your tip from the other day in the register to balance it out.”

Andrew stared at Neil for a moment. Then, turning, he stuffed the wad of cash into the tip jar. “For you,” he said. 

“No-” Neil began, but Andrew ignored him. He picked up his drink and made his way over to a table that someone was in the process of vacating. As soon as they had removed everything, Andrew sat down, facing the counter. Neil frowned at him for a couple of seconds, but Renee was struggling to push through the door with her hands full and he hurried to help her. 

It probably wasn’t a good idea to let Andrew know that the tip jar was handed to a charity of someone’s choice each week…

* * *

_Sugar cannot heal my past, for I have been wounded once before._ _  
_ _There are scars stitched into my very being, into my very soul._ _  
_ _Nothing can heal them, but I can move on with your sweet words,_ _  
_ _And you knock down my walls, and take out my personal guards._ _  
_ _(Chorus.)_

* * *

A few days later, Neil was cleaning up a spill left by a tired customer who had dropped their cup when Neil had handed it to them. He assumed it was a student, since they only sighed heavily. With Dan in the manager’s office, Neil had made the order again and waited till he was sure the customer had a better grip of the cup before he let it go. Now, he had a mop out and, since it was half an hour until the shop closed and no-one was in, he started to make his way around the room.

He had been working away for a few minutes when Dan appeared, coat on and bag slung over her shoulder. “You’re definitely okay with this?” she asked again, frowning at Neil.

“I’ve got nowhere better to be,” Neil assured her. “Go. It sounds like it’s important to you.”

“You’re important, too,” Dan insisted. 

“Go,” Neil told her, pointing at the door with the handle of the mop.

“Okay, okay!” Dan held her hands up in surrender and carefully stepped over the clean floor. “Thanks for this,” she said as she went. “I haven’t seen them in so long!”

She was referring to her stage sisters, the ones who helped her get through high school and afford to go to college. Now, Dan was the assistant manager of _The Foxhole_ and was going to become the manager very soon, once Wymack had sorted out the contract. It was going to be strange, Neil thought, to not have Wymack appearing at least once a day before taking off for his new sports centre. Dan, of course, had decided to also help out there and even Neil had been roped into help out. His life was beginning to open up and, maybe, he could actually go to college at some point.

“You’re going to be late,” Neil pointed out, the entire reason she was leaving early and why he was still in the shop when his shift should have been long over. Dan had asked him to close the shop for her so she could duck out early and Neil had been more than willing after everything they had done for him. Besides, while Matt was with Seth - someone Neil liked to avoid at all costs - and Allison and Renee were having a ‘girl’s night’, he didn’t really have much to look forward to when he returned to his small apartment.

Dan grinned. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Unless I’m recovering from a wicked hangover.”

Neil snorted and waved her out the door. Once the door had swung shut, it went quiet, only the faint notes of Dan’s coffee shop playlist - an idea she had only recently decided to implement - filling the space. Well, that and the squelchy, wet sounds of the mop running over the floor. Minutes passed as Neil cleaned the floor, the tables, the chairs, restocked the condiments and sugar, restocked the cups, started to move the cakes-

With only ten minutes until closing - according to the clock that Neil hadn’t looked at while he worked - the door opened. Blinking, Neil looked up and stared as Andrew stepped inside, his blank stare taking in the empty place. Behind him, were the rest of the _Monsters_. Nicky looked excited while the other two looked equal parts bored and exhausted. Neil set down the plate of mostly eaten red velvet cake and stepped over to the register, wiping the cream onto his already messy apron.

“Hello,” he said. “What can I get for you?”

“Coffees,” said Andrew, placidly. He circled a finger around his bandmates. “For all of us.”

“Yeah!” said Nicky with a grin. “We’re going out clubbing tonight; we’re gonna need all the energy we can get!”

Neil nodded, as if he knew what they were talking about. He punched in their orders and took their money. When he tried to return their change, Andrew used a finger to push his hand towards the tip jar. Rolling his eyes, Neil dropped the cash in there and stepped away to start making the coffee, snagging to-go cups as he passed the pile.

“So, Neil,” said Nicky. He was leaning against the counter and grinning when Neil looked over. “How about you join us?”

“What?” asked Neil, setting Nicky’s cappuccino on the counter.

“Come clubbing with us! Come have fun and let us prove we’re not horrible people who come in at the end of people’s shifts.”

Glancing between them all, Neil noted the others’ reactions. Office Worker - or Kevin, as he had been informed - didn’t look impressed by him at all. Andrew’s twin - Aaron, apparently - looked annoyed. And, of course, as usual, Andrew didn’t seem to react to the idea at all. However, Andrew _was_ staring straight at Neil. Shaking his head, Neil grabbed the Irish whiskey that Wymack had assured Neil they had the licence for. 

“I have plans,” Neil lied. “Sorry,” he added when Nicky pouted, clearly downhearted. 

“Aww!” Nicky complained. “I wanted to go out clubbing with someone hot who isn’t family!” Neil jolted in surprise and splashed some of the whiskey over the unit. “Come on,” Nicky whined. “What are your other plans? They can’t be important! Come with us instead!”

“What-?” Neil began, but Andrew, for some reason, came to his defence.

“Nicky,” he said, his voice almost a growl. It made a shiver run down Neil’s spine, though he couldn’t tell if it was a fight or flight response or something else.

“What?” Nicky said, straightening so that he was up to his full height. “He should have some more fun. Maybe then he won’t be so grumpy when people come in this late at night.”

“He hasn’t been grumpy at all,” Aaron pointed out, looking rather disgusted. “Leave him alone. You’ve already got Erik.”

“But he’s not here!” Nicky whined.

Neil ignored them as best he could, setting down the Irish coffee and making a start on Aaron’s Americano. They argued among themselves about letting Neil come along or not and Neil quickly tuned them out. Kevin was already drinking his coffee, despite how hot it would be. Neil had the feeling that he needed the alcohol to deal with everything. Eventually, Nicky seemed to get worked up enough to let something slip, just as Neil placed Aaron’s coffee on the counter.

“If we stopped the tour for him, he should come!”

Freezing, Neil stared at them all as Nicky also stilled. He looked over at Neil, looking a little panicked. Kevin and Aaron grabbed their coffees and, apparently deciding that they had had enough, scarpered out the door. Meanwhile, Andrew was giving Nicky a very cold look. Neil looked between them. Did Nicky mean him? Why would they stop their tour? Didn’t they need to do that; wasn’t it part of their contracts or whatever?

“What?” was all Neil managed to say.

“Nicky,” said Andrew. “Leave.”

“Right. Yes. I’ll- You’ll catch up, right?” Nicky asked, practically simpering at Andrew. When all he received in response was a flat look, Nicky grabbed his coffee, nervously laughed, and hurried out of the door. Neil blinked after him for long enough that Andrew snapped his fingers in Neil’s face, startling him.

“Coffee,” Andrew said, apparently not concerned about Nicky’s slip.

“What did he mean?” Neil asked.

“Does it really matter to you?” 

“It sounded as if it was _about_ me,” Neil said with a shrug of his shoulder. He reached out and plucked up the last cup. “So, _does_ it matter?”

“Not particularly,” Andrew replied, rolling the words around in his mouth as if he didn’t care to give Neil a quick response.

Neil rolled his eyes and sighed. “Whatever.” He crouched down to open the tiny freezer they now kept below the cash register and pulled out the gelato he needed for Andrew’s coffee. Renee had suggested it to Wymack the day after Andrew’s visit to her so they could make a coffee that Andrew said he liked. Neil hadn’t even heard of affogato coffee until he had been taught how to by Dan and Renee. He wrinkled his nose as he stood and made his way to the coffee machine for the other component of the drink, completely baffled by anyone who seemed to enjoy the drink. 

“He’s wrong,” Andrew said as he clanged around. 

“What?” asked Neil, distracted.

“We stopped the tour because of a gas leak in the venue, so we postponed the last few dates.”

“Uh huh,” said Neil, putting the lid on the cup. Once he had slid on the protective sleeve, he turned back to Andrew. “Look,” he said as he handed it over, their fingers brushing. “I don’t really need an explanation. We don’t know each other and it’s not really any of my business.”

“Most people are interested,” Andrew told him. 

“Your songs are what people should be interested in. Now…” Neil pointed at the clock. “We’re closed. Get your ass out of here.”

“Been looking at my ass, Neil?” Andrew asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Out, Minyard,” Neil ordered, pointing at the door. 

Thankfully, Andrew did as he was told, but not without saluting Neil. Rolling his eyes, Neil waited until he couldn’t see Andrew before he went over to flip the sign. Then he continued his cleaning. Once everything was settled and ready for the morning, Neil snatched up the keys and made his way out the front door. He locked it and pulled down the shutter before locking that. Afterwards, he stood still, smiling down at his keys. Not many people had given him keys in his life, and he was trusted with these. Shaking his head, he put them in his pocket and turned to go. 

He almost walked straight into Andrew who, despite it having been fifteen minutes since Neil closed, seemed to have been waiting on him. 

Andrew was looking at Neil, appraising him. A cigarette was between his fingers and he raised it to take a drag. Neil breathed in the familiar smell and felt his startled heartbeat lower. Calm now, Neil gazed back, wondering. When Andrew didn’t say anything or even seem to acknowledge Neil except for the stare, Neil stole his cigarette and held it close.

“Was there something you wanted?” Neil asked, knowing the answer.

“I don’t want anything,” Andrew said.

“Then why are you here?”

“You are a puzzle.”

Neil blinked at him. “Uh huh, sure.”

“I’ll figure you out,” Andrew insisted, though his expression and voice were void of emotion, so it was more like he was commenting on the weather.

“You could just ask,” Neil suggested.

Andrew seemed to still at that, which was funny to Neil, since he hadn’t been moving beforehand. “I’m not going to _take_ what I want.”

“I’d give it to you,” said Neil, not quite sure what was going on.

Whatever Neil had said wrong, Andrew narrowed his eyes at him. “We can do an exchange.”

“A question for a question?”

“A truth for a truth,” Andrew corrected.

Neil considered that for a moment. “Okay. But not here. Let’s go somewhere more private or hidden.” He didn’t want Andrew’s fans to start paying attention to him, after all.

“Is your place close?” Andrew asked.

“That’s rather forward,” Neil commented with a raised eyebrow, but he was already leading the way.

“It’s your first truth.”

“Then, yes.”

* * *

_So, look at me with those blue eyes, the ones that pierce through me._ _  
_ _Smiling as you hand me my coffee, I’m sure that you can see._ _  
_ _One day I’ll ask you to stay with me, to have more time and coffee;_ _  
_ _You’ll have black like our souls, and I’ll have some with cream and toffee._ _  
_ _(Chorus x2)_

* * *

**The Monsters** **_Have Been Conquered  
_**_After a surprise postponement on the last leg of their tour, rock band_ The Monsters _have still not been seen.  
Reports of their presence in Palmetto is perplexing to fans who know that the venue, where they were supposed to play at before their disappearance has reopened. Yet the gig has not been rearranged even after months of their absence.  
Videos and photos place the singer and guitarist, Andrew Minyard, in several local places, including coffee shops and diners. Still as tight-lipped as usual, Minyard has not told anyone their plans, though Nicky Hemmick has tweeted that they have found inspiration and are writing new songs. However, have _ The Monsters _shot themselves in the foot by refusing to continue their tour? Or will they come back stronger than ever?_

* * *

After that, every time Neil had to close or had a late enough shift, Andrew would be waiting for him nearby with a cigarette already lit. Sometimes Neil would steal it, and sometimes Andrew would hand him another one. Whatever the case, both of them would go elsewhere, to a 24 hour diner or Neil’s place or to a park when it was a nice night. They told each other things that Neil was sure that Andrew had never told anyone and that Neil himself had certainly kept quiet. 

Something about Andrew soothed Neil after long days and he also found himself smiling more than he did normally. It was strange, but also felt right. Then there was the staring. Both he and Andrew would stare at each other a lot, and he found himself looking at Andrew’s lips, wondering things he had never thought about before. Slowly, over the period of a couple of months, they seemed to grow closer and, despite Neil’s confusion over Andrew’s interest in him, Neil relished his time with Andrew.

One day, Neil was sitting in his apartment. He’d had a day off while everyone else was at work. Everyone had given him suggestions for something to do to relax. Shopping, a pamper day, joining a sports club of some kind, going to see a new movie. But Neil had chosen to actually use his TV to catch up on some of the things he had missed out on during his childhood. So it was a surprise when someone knocked on the door.

He ran through all of his options. Running. Fighting. Grabbing a knife from the kitchen. Pretending he wasn’t home. Thankfully, he calmed enough in those few seconds to make his way to the door and look through the peephole.

Andrew stared back at him.

Blinking, Neil unlocked the door and stepped aside to let him in. Andrew didn’t move. Maybe that was a silent instruction to follow him. So Neil stepped forward and opened his mouth to ask. Something tapped his chest before he could speak and Neil glanced down, surprised to see a slim CD case, held against his chest by Andrew’s hand.

“Wha-?”

“Listen,” said Andrew, and pulled away. Neil barely caught the CD as Andrew turned and left. He stared after the man, utterly confused. Only once Andrew was out of sight, did Neil swing his front door closed and retreat into his apartment. Dan’s old CD player was around here somewhere.

Eventually, Neil had dug it out from behind a pile of precarious books that Andrew had appeared with one day. Neil wasn’t sure if Andrew had bought them new or if they were books that Andrew had already owned. He pushed them aside and tugged out the player. Then, he found a socket to plug it in before he paused to study the case. It was blank except for a number: **_90%_**. There was nothing else until Neil pulled the disc out and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Frowning, Neil stuck the disc in, waited till it had loaded and then hit play as he bent to pick up the mystery note. 

He hadn’t read it when Andrew’s drawling, deep voice, backed by an acoustic guitar distracted him - and the lyrics hit him.

It was only once he had listened to the whole, rough song that he looked at the piece of paper. There was an address on it. Neil flipped through his knowledge of Palmetto and realised that it was a hotel, one of the ones that wasn’t too ostentatious enough to draw attention, but expensive enough to keep people’s lips sealed. His eyes widened and he hurried through his apartment, grabbing his shoes and a hoodie and his keys and phone. 

Neil was sure he had never run as fast as he did that night, his feet pounding the street in a different rhythm to the pounding of his heart.

By the time he arrived at the hotel, he looked a mess. His hair was probably all over the place from the wind that was being funneled along the streets. There had been two parks he had crossed through, mud and grass now sticking to his shoes. Not to mention that the faded hoodie really didn’t belong in the hotel. Thankfully, no-one stopped him as he rushed to the elevator, jabbing at the ‘up’ button far too many times.

He stared at himself in the mirror and grimaced. There was sweat dripping down his temples and it made his hair stick to his forehead. Without thinking, Neil pushed it back so that his sodden locks looked like he’d gelled it back. He grimaced and ruffled it, staring at his red face. Now he looked like even more of a mess, which was not the impression he wanted to be giving Andrew. His face was still wet, so Neil took off his hoodie, just as the doors opened. With a last glance at the mirror, he hurried down the hall to the appropriate door. Once he had knocked, he used his t-shirt to wipe the rest of the sweat away - and ended up with a gigantic wet patch. 

His groaning was interrupted by the opening of the door. Andrew stood in the doorway, looking delightfully soft. A black long-sleeved top replaced his armbands and matching black sweatpants hung low on his hips. There were two matching slivers of skin between his top and his pants which Neil stared at for a beat too long before looking up at Andrew. The singer looked a little disgusted - probably due to the state Neil was in.

“What did you do?” Andrew demanded.

“I listened,” Neil answered. When Andrew only narrowed his eyes at him, he added, “And then I ran here.”

“Idiot,” growled Andrew and, gripping the bottom of Neil’s t-shirt, he dragged Neil inside. “Why didn’t you just text or call?”

“I…” Neil blinked, glancing around the fancy room perfunctorily. “I didn’t think about it.”

“Of course.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me?”

By that point, they were in the centre of the room. Neil ignored the huge bed that they could, hypothetically, both sleep in without disturbing each other when they woke with nightmares. Andrew wouldn’t feel crowded either. On their other side was a comfortable-looking couch with two matching armchairs. Neil found himself wanting to curl up there with Andrew to watch something he had never seen before and listen to Andrew’s opinions about it. But, most importantly, he wanted to know where they stood.

“Ask you what?” asked Andrew, just to be difficult.

Neil rolled his eyes and stepped closer. “You know what. You were the one that told me there even _was_ a question.”

“I did no such thing,” Andrew retorted, turning to make his way to the balcony. He slid the door open and pulled out a pack of cigarettes at the same time. 

Following him out into the cool air - and glad that his red face would fade - Neil ignored the view and turned to him. “Yes, you did. It was in the song.”

Andrew paused in the act of lighting his stick, the flame sputtering in the breeze. Neil shifted closer and angled himself to save it. That seemed to irritate Andrew because he snapped his lighter closed and took the cigarette from his lips, broke it and threw it over the railing. Neil watched it go and wondered where it would land. 

“The song’s not finished,” Andrew told Neil, jabbing his finger at him but not touching him. “That’s just a rough draft. It was to get your opinion.”

“Do you care about my opinion?” Neil asked, tilting his head in thought. Sometimes speaking with Andrew was an ever changing game with rules that were bent or broken whenever they wanted. Neil couldn’t be sure that his question would get him thrown out or not.

“Shut up,” Andrew said, turning away from Neil and shaking another cigarette out.

Neil turned to look at the view now, giving Andrew his space. “You can change it if you want,” he said, quiet enough that Andrew could pretend not to hear if he wanted. “But I think it’s amazing already. And I want you to ask the question.”

This time, the cigarette was lit when it went sailing over the balcony. Neil turned to watch Andrew stomp inside, leaving the door open. It was a clear sign to follow and Neil did. Andrew looked annoyed when he spotted Neil so Neil turned and closed the door and pulled the blinds to give him time to collect himself. Turning back, he found that Andrew was watching him, waiting. So, once he’d taken a deep breath, Neil made his way over until he was within reaching distance.

When Andrew didn’t say anything, Neil whispered, “Ask.”

“Yes or no?” said Andrew, his voice low and steady.

“Yes,” Neil answered, certain and loud enough to be heard.

Andrew reacted by hooking his finger in Neil’s sweaty collar. He pulled him closer and Neil stumbled a step toward him. They were closer than ever, but Neil made sure to keep space between them, just in case. After he looked Neil up and down, Andrew growled, “Yes or no?”

Neil glanced down at Andrew’s lips. “Yes.”

He barely had a chance to take a breath before Andrew pulled him down. Their lips crashed together and Andrew tilted his head to slide his tongue into Neil’s mouth. Neil closed his eyes and let himself feel the kiss, his heart beating wildly. Something about it felt like it was right, like Neil had fallen into his place in the world. Still, he kept his hands to himself, clasped together behind his back. 

By the time Andrew pulled away, Neil was feeling breathless and his knees were weak. They stared at each other from scant inches away; the way the light hit Andrew’s eyes made them look like honey more than hazel. Neil could feel Andrew’s breath on his lips. From this close, he could even feel the heat coming from Andrew.

“Come on,” Andrew muttered, tugging at Neil’s t-shirt to lead him to the couch. With the promise of more kisses, Neil went willingly.

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to skip over much of Neil and Andrew's important conversations from the books that would happen during the time skip, since it would just be much of the same. Only with added songs.
> 
> Interestingly, my friends read this over as part of a writing group thing we're doing, where we give each other feedback, and one of them pointed out that latte is German slang for a 'boner'. Just a little added info there.


End file.
